Interactive television attempts to augment broadcast programs with viewer selectable interactivity. This interactivity is typically delivered in the form of interactive content, such as an interactive application, associated with the broadcast program. An interactive application allows the viewer to participate, often in conjunction with events or situations arising in the broadcast program. The interactive content that accompanies a particular broadcast program may be displaced on the television screen simultaneously with the broadcast of the broadcast program, and if so, likely covers a portion of the viewing screen of the broadcast program. For example, a broadcast game show may be accompanied by interactivity that allows the viewer to play along and input answers to questions being posed during the show. This interactivity is displayed on only a portion of the television screen, so as to allow the viewer to continue to watch the broadcast program.
For interactivity that accompanies a broadcast program, it is desirable to maintain the interactivity in synchrony with the broadcast program. This means that the interactivity should be available to the viewer whenever the broadcast program that it accompanies is being broadcast, and that any state information that the viewer has created, e.g. an accumulated point total in a game, should be maintained, even if the broadcast program is temporarily suspended and then resumed, for example, during a commercial break.
If further means that the interactivity should not be displayed when the accompanying broadcast program is not being broadcast or is otherwise interrupted. In particular, proper synchrony requires that the interactivity for a television show not be displayed when a commercial is broadcast during the show. This is for two reasons. First, the commercial may have its own interactivity accompanying it, such as a form for the user to request product information about a product advertised during the commercial. Thus, the commercial's interactivity must be displayed, and yet the show's interactivity must be re-displayed when the commercial (or series of commercials) is over and the television show is resumed. Redisplay of the show's interactivity should be prompt and as noted, should preserver the state information that was available when the commercial began. For example, if the viewer was accumulating points in an interactive game, then the accumulated points should be available when the show's interactivity is resumed. This first concept also holds true for interactivity related to just a portion of a show. For example if interactivity is displayed allowing the viewer to order trousers like whose worn by the show's host, the viewer's accumulated points should gain be available when the interactive trousers promotion disappears.
Second, even if the commercial(s) does not have its own interactivity, it is inappropriate to display the interactivity of the show during the commercial. This is because the interactivity will override a portion of the television screen, thereby covering up part of the commercial, which is unacceptable to the advertiser that paid for the commercial to be broadcast. Also, the interactivity for the show is not associated with the commercial, and its appearance may confuse the viewer.
It is also desirable to maintain the interactivity in synchrony with particular events on the broadcast program. This means that a particular interactive element should be available to the viewer only when a corresponding broadcast event takes place on the broadcast program. Take the example of the broadcast game show. At the moment that the broadcast program displays the game show host offering a question to an in-studio contestant, it would be desirable for the associated interactive application to display a prompt inviting the viewer to answer the same question. Likewise, as the contestant begins to give has answer aloud, the interactive application would inform the viewer that “time is up” and cease to accept viewer input.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an interactive television system, method, and software products that correctly synchronize the interactivity of various broadcast programs as well as events during those programs, and accommodate the interruption of broadcast programs by other broadcast programs.
One approach in the art involves sending the interactive application along with the broadcast program from the national network to the local affiliates. One method specifically is to place a server with the ability to insert an interactive application into the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of a television broadcast at the national network uplink facility. The server integrates with the network playlist system or other program-identifying techniques to insert interactive applications appropriate for the current television program. The program-identifying techniques provide needed timing information for events such as broadcast program starts and stops, commercial break starts and stops, and interruption of either by the start of a second broadcast program. An overview of this early approach is illustrated in FIG. 1.
In this early approach, a server module (software application) running on a broadcast server (BS) 110 receives real-time information on the current video program being broadcast from the playlist control system 120. The playlist control system 120 controls the sequencing of pre-recorded video content (shows and advertisements) shown here as video sources 130. This information is used to insert an interactive application, content, or data into the video stream via the data insertion unit (DIU) 140.
The combined video and interactive application is then delivered (typically via satellite 170 as shown here) to a local network affiliate 160 where the application is either delivered over the air 162 to an interactive enabled settop 150 or over a cable system that re-retransmits the local signal 164 to an interactive enabled settop 150.
In reality, this configuration sometimes fails to deliver interactive television. One problem is that the interactive application can be lost, destroyed, or knocked out of synch with the television program between insertion of the application into the video stream by the data insertion unit 140, and reception by an interactive enabled settop 150. There are technical barriers to delivering interactive content synchronized with television program all along the path from the national network to the local affiliate. Several locations of potential difficulties 199 are illustrated in FIG. 1, and some of the technical barriers are described below.
Multiple Network Feeds—broadcast networks have multiple feeds to provide time shifted delivery of content for each time zone. The equipment used to record and replay video content for different time zones may inadvertently destroy the inserted interactive application by not properly recording the VBI lines that carry it.
Digital Uplinks—some networks digitally comprises their signal or convert the signal in some other manner that may not preserver the VBI in which the inserted interactive application is transmitted. Since the digital compression facility is not expecting useful data in the VBI, the interactive application is not compressed and carried over into the digitized system along with the broadcast program, and thus is not available for the user.
Local Affiliate Issues—not only may data placed in the video signal be inadvertently destroyed by equipment at the local affiliate, but well-intended local affiliates can corrupt or destroy the interactive application while time shifting the network feed. Time shifting is achieved by recording the video content from a network feed, but playing it back to the viewing audience at a later time. The video recording equipment can either fail to reload the VBI or improperly record it, thus eliminating the interactive application.
What is needed is a way to deliver the synchronized interactivity along with the broadcast program it was intended to accompany without losing the interactivity portion before the broadcast reaches the user.
A further difficulty is that the resource and bandwidth capabilities of the subnetworks that receive the network broadcast vary significantly. It would be desirable to send customized variations of interactive applications to each subnet. For example, local-into-local service may take the top few broadcast network channels in the country's top 25 markets and rebroadcast those channels as digitally encoded signals so that they can be seen outside of their local markets. Both the receiving hardware and broadcast bandwidth allow a richer application (e.g. with more or better features, options, functions, graphics, or sound) to be delivered to the consumer using this technique. However, existing approaches at best merely pass along an existing interactive application as it was originally broadcast, without taking advantage of the additional subnet bandwidth.
Accordingly, it is desirable to delivery various types and qualities of synchronized interactivity with the various cable (or other broadcasting) systems' broadcasts of the same program based on differing hardware and bandwidth capabilities.